Bangalore: After being in limbo for over nine months, the realty sector, all of over 9 lakh acres, will be opened up for construction activity. With the state government finally approving the interim master plans of six towns, the land conversion ban has been lifted and Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) will go ahead with layout approvals.

The plans were signed on April 28 and have been notified. The interim master plan “shall regulate developmental activities of various authorities and government departments till the final approval of the interim master plans’’.

According to the notification, the interim master plan will be published by the BMRDA for receiving objections/ suggestions and will be kept for public display for 15 days. After receiving the comments, the BMRDA should resubmit this plan to the government along with recommendations for final approval.

The BMRDA had temporarily banned land conversion and layout development activities in nearly 3,500 sq kms of the Bangalore Metropolitan Region on July 14, 2006 as the interim master plans for six towns — Nelamangala, Magadi, Hoskote, Kanakapura, Anekal, Ramanagaram-Channapatna had to be prepared.

Though the BMRDA was well ahead of its deadline and submitted the maps on November 30, the state government took five months to approve them. However, the BMRDA had promised the builders of opening up land conversion by 2006 end, which got delayed.

The BMRDA came under severe criticism from the realty sector as over 9 lakh acres was under the government’s control. Since construction activity had come to a standstill, the future of over two lakh employees in the sector, investment to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore and the prospects of over 450 developers was under threat.